Development Assessment of Housing Sector at the Regional level by Using Cluster Analysis method (Sample: Southern Region of Hamedan Provinc)

Inappropriate planning and lack of financial and human resources and the equitable distribution of them caused major issues in the development of small towns and cities. Housing sector as Multi-dimensional issue has a great impact on urban development. For assessment and evaluation the development of cities, first there must be comprehensive survey of housing sector situation in cities. This provides the context for strategic planning and implementation plans suitable for housing development. Also this provides an analysis of the dependence of human settlement in the region and then, an integrated regional development for the region. In this research, 21 indicators related to housing including qualitative, economic, demographic, physical indicators are examined on the basis of information of 12 cities of southern Hamedan Province. SPSS statistical technique and method of cluster analysis are used in this research. The study shows that housing development in the southern region of the Hamedan province is not followed in well balanced pattern. The pattern shows that Malayer city, as second big city of Hamedan Province, is classified in the first cluster of cities and Zanganeh city is classified in the last cluster according to housing indicators. Results show this region requires a coherent strategic planning in its housing sector for improvement of it's development. Finally, some proposals are supposed for improvement of these indicators.